Reading: Summary #1

Tyrone really wanted an adventure. He borrowed his friend's bike and explored the world. He saw many amazing things and had a lot of fun. Tyrone was so glad he went on his trip! What is the best summary for this paragraph?

• Tyrone saw amazing things.

• Tyrone went on a fun bike adventure.

• Tyrone was glad he went on a trip.

• Tyrone wanted to explore.

Jayelle had a birthday party at her house. She invited lots of friends. They all brought her a present to open. She was excited to share cupcakes with her friends. She thanked everyone for coming before they went home. What is the best summary for this paragraph?

• Jayelle opened presents.

• Jayelle ate cupcakes with her friends.

• Jayelle had a birthday party with her friends.

• Jayelle thanked her friends for coming.

There are five teams of students in the fifth grade. The blue team has math first period, and the red team has science. The yellow team gets to go outside early in the morning, while the green team goes to music. Only students on the orange team get to play games first period. Each student wears a nametag with his or her color, so that the teachers and students all know where a student should be.
The Summary of this passage is:
 

•  Students are organized by teams with color names .
• The blue team has math first.
• Students wear nametags.
• The yellow team has the best schedule.

Why do we summarize?

• to make something long and difficult to understand

• to make it simple and easy to understand

Read the following passage and then answer the question.
Lisa knew all of the seven dwarfs except one. She remembered Grumpy, Sleepy and Bashful. And of course she couldn't forget Doc and Dopey. Dopey was her favorite. But there was one she just could not remember. Let's see. There's also Sneezy, and that's six. But she could not remember that last one. What was his name?

• Dopey was Lisa's favorite dwarf.
• Lisa could not remember the name of one of the dwarfs.
• There were seven dwarfs in all.
• Lisa had a good memory.

What can you summarize?

• only novels
• only nonfiction
• only movies
• anything you read or watch

You should write your summary

• in your own words with complete sentences
• in a secret language that you make up
• in one draft without revising
• in fragments without punctuation

Which of the following statements about SUMMARIZING is false?

•  The Summary is what the passage is mostly about.
• The Summary is what all or most of the sentences or paragraphs are about.
• The Summary is usually found in more than just one sentence of the passage
• The Summary is one isolated thought in a passage.

Read the following passage and then answer the question.
The Elk River flows from the far northern part of the state all the way to the southern tip. All kinds of animals rely on it for drinking water, people eat the fish they catch in it, and farmers in the state depend on it for irrigating their crops. Since there is very little rain in this state, the Elk River gives animals and humans the water they need to stay alive. Even though the river is not nearly the biggest in the nation, it is very important to the people and animals that live near it.

• The Elk River is a small river.
• The Elk River starts in the northern part of the state.
• The Elk River is very important to people and animals.
• People catch fish in the Elk River.

Tomorrow is Jill's birthday. She is excited because she gets to pick where she will eat dinner. Will it be Mexican food at the Big Enchilada House? Or will it be fried chicken at the Chicken Shack, or a big cheeseburger at Al's Hamburger Palace. She just couldn't decide. Then there was always the Pizza Shop with that great pepperoni pizza. How would she ever decide? Maybe she would just flip a coin.
The Summary of this passage is:

• Jill has many restaurants to choose from for her birthday.
•  Jill loves Mexican food.
• The Pizza Shop has the best pizza in town.
•  Jill will choose a place by flipping a coin.